WTO talks stuck over e-commerce moratorium

For over 25 years, members of the WTO have upheld a rule — no customs duties on electronic transmissions. While India has used it as a bargaining chip at every ministerial meeting. For India, the big win is managing to keep investment facilitation for development out of the WTO framework despite standing alone at the end. It has demanded “guardrails” against using plurilaterals, which are agreements between a select group of member nations.